All important railway stations in Odisha would have Wi-Fi facility by September-ened this year, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said here on Sunday.

He also informed that closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) would be installed all the important stations and important Mail/Express trains by the end of this financial year to improve safety and security of the passengers. Yadav said this after visiting the Bhubaneswar railway along with other railway officials.

The Indian Railways would sign an MoU with the State Government soon to redevelop the main entrance of the Bhubaneswar station, he said, adding that all the issues relating to signing of the MoU have been sorted out. 

Besides, a second entry from the Bhubaneswar station’s platform no-6 side would be developed and fund has been provided to improve the circulating area and road connectivity to the station, he said.

There is a demand to run more passenger trains from Bhubaneswar; so, a survey has been sanctioned this year to run freight trains bypassing Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

This would facilitate running of more trains from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack soon, he informed.

Stating that more funds have been allocated in this year’s Railway Budget for Odisha compared to the previous year expecting that land acquisition problems would be solved, Yadav said the last year’s allocated funds for the projects in the State have not been fully utilised due to land acquisition issues.

“This zone has some important ongoing projects.  The important issue for slow progress of the projects is land acquisition problem,” Yadav said, adding that the Indian Railway and the State Government are working together to solve the issues soon.  The East Coast Zone is primarily freight-loading zone; and this year, the zone has a target to cross the 200-million tone-mark, he said.